


The Ice Queen

by Random404



Series: Ice, Fire, and Demons [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Lucy Heartfilia is a Dragon Slayer, PTSD/Mentions of PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28395180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random404/pseuds/Random404
Summary: Natsu had heard of her before. The Ice Queen: a dangerous Ice Magic user that lived in the Mount Hakobe territory. He never expected her to be his best friend Lucy. Moreover, she never expected that he would be the warmth she needed all along. Nalu AU
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Series: Ice, Fire, and Demons [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079588
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back with yet another story because why not lol. Anyways, to those who are new to me: Hello! Nice to meet ya! I'm glad to be part of the NaLu believers and part of this fandom :D Here is my take on "Lucy is a Dragon Slayer" And I hope you enjoy it! I'll try to upload these once a month, so yeah! Remember to R&R :) 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, never have, never will.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's family went on the yearly family trip to the cabin deep within Mount Hakobe, when disaster struck. Now, years later, Lucy reflects on her past, as she moves away from her home to the wilderness, where she meets Natsu and Happy. This is how Lucy's story begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! Random here! This is the start of The Ice Queen! I had this story idea a while ago and I decided to write it and see how it goes! I hope you enjoy this first chapter, and make sure to Rate&Review, so I can learn from past chapters to make better content down the line. Anyways! Here is Chapter One: Prologue! Enjoy!! :D
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, and never have. Probably never will either.

It was a sunny day in Fiore, and the afternoon sky lit the world in a golden light, and birds flew across the horizon. Currently, one family was preparing for a summer vacation to the mountains.  At the wealthy Heartfilia family estate, servants prepped the carriage which would take them to  the cabin deep within the woods on Mount Hakobe. 

As these servants continued packing their master’s belongings, a young girl ran around the nearby gardens. This was Lucy Heartfilia, future heir of the Heartfilia family’s wealth. With her was her doll named Michelle, who she considered as her own little sister. This carefree four year old child did her regular routine of playing in the gardens in the afternoon until dinner was served, where she would go back home and spend time with her parents. This, however, was a different time, due to the previously mentioned trip that the family partook in every year. These were the only two weeks that they were free enough for them to escape the stress of managing a business and simply be a loving family.

However, they didn’t know of the approaching disaster.

The trip in two carriages towards Mt. Hakobe was usually a calm one. Every year since Lucy’s birth, the Heartfilia family and company would head to a large, two story cabin deep within the territory of Mt. Hakobe. The path itself was cleaned a week in advance so the wheels had no issue on the road, and the whole trip was planned months before, just to make sure that there were no business related issues that would get in the way of the well needed break that the wealthy Heartfilia parents wished for.

And for the fourth time of her life, Lucy stared at the green pastures that went as far as the eye could see, the borders between greenery and forests, and the mountains of snow and gray clouds that looked over the horizon. It was her true first time actually seeing the environment, and Lucy was more than excited to see and explore the world even more. Due to her social status, Lucy normally didn’t get a lot of time to spend in the outside world; instead, she spent time in the gardens, in the library, or learning the very first steps of wizardry and celestial magic. She even had the golden key of Aquarius! And her mother told her that one day, she would inherit the golden key of Capricorn!

She didn’t know that day was fast approaching.

The trip took a day for them to finally arrive at the border between the passive land and the wild snow hills. 

And, as towns and forests turned to snow-filled land, Lucy pulled the helm of her winter coat closer to herself, trying her best to fend off the cold that seeped through the wooden doors of the carriage. Even so, the young girl stared outside at the falling snowflakes and fields of white, and childish glee rose in her heart. In front of her very eyes was a winter wonderland, one which she would spend weeks inside of. The mere thought of touching the snow made her feel giddy, and building snowmen was something she heard in nighttime stories her mother read to herand something she looked forward to.

That was before the carriages stopped.

At first, she didn’t know what was wrong. One look at her parents, however, was all that was needed to understand that she wasn’t alone in that. Then, a fight broke out. From out of seemingly nowhere, a dozen or so Vulkans ambushed the group. A large amount of snow stood in the way between the horses and freedom from the beasts that attacked them. The servants at the back were there for a reason, though. They were all aware that the area was dangerous, so Jude Heartfilia hired mercenaries to protect them if it was required.

But it seemed even they couldn’t hold their own against the hulking beasts for long. 

“Mommy, I’m scared.” Layla couldn’t blame her. She was scared too. She never expected those monsters to be so close to their route to the cabin. Layla looked to her husband and saw the same fear that she herself felt now. 

And just as the situation couldn’t get any worse, the carriage door opened.

“Sir! It’s not safe here. We can hold them off, but not for long!” And with that, the servant ran back to fight off another Vulkan. Jude looked at Layla and Lucy, the former nodding to him and the latter shaking in both fear and cold. Jude held the hand of his wife and did the only thing they could.

They ran as far away as they could. Unfortunately, it didn’t go unnoticed.

The wealthy couple ran through the snow covered road, trying to get to the cabin while they still could.  A Vulkan chased after them, his loud, guttural cries scaring the family to their core. Just when they thought they were out of reach, another brute jumped out in front of them.  Jude and Layla looked to one another, both coming to the same realization.

One of them wasn’t going to make it out alive.

“Layla, take Lucy and run away from here. I’ll give you time to get away from here, just run!” The heartbreak in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by his companion.

Tears formed in Layla’s eyes, and the couple shared one final kiss before she ran away from the road and into the depths of snow. 

Lucy didn’t want to look back, but she didn’t understand why her parents separated or where they were going. All she knew was that Mommy was scared, and that meant she was scared too. She closed her eyes as she clung to her mother, tears running on both of the females’ cheeks. Then, a scream broke through the silence. 

The earth shook lightly behind Layla, as something headed in her direction. She didn’t want to think about the prospect of that, not while she was still in danger now. More importantly, Lucy was not yet safe, so Layla pushed herself to run as fast as she could, hoping for her and Lucy to find a place to hide. 

But fortune wasn’t on their side that day. The approaching  _ thump _ s doubled as two Vulkan-shaped shadows came from the mist and heavy snowfall behind them. Lucy couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed in terror as the two creatures came closer and closer, until their features became recognizable; their faces held wicked and hungry grins that made Lucy sob harder. Layla looked in front of her for a second, as to see if maybe she stood a chance of getting away without a fight. But that second proved to be her demise, since looking behind her made her miss the uneven rock in her way. Layla tripped and fell on the snow, Lucy safely wrapped up in her mother’s arms. Layla felt the Vulkans stop close to her, so she focused on what she could do now. 

“Lucy, honey. I-I want you to run as far away from here as you can, okay?”

“B-but Momma, I’m scared!” Lucy sobbed.

“It will be alright, sweetheart. Mommy will protect you while you get to safety,” Layla looked out in front of her, the unmistakable shadows of the tree line spelling some sort of safety to her.

Lucy bit her lip, her silent tears rolling down her cheeks, but she nodded. Clutching Michelle tightly against herself, Lucy stood, her mother along with her. Layla understood that she wouldn’t make it past today. If she was unlucky enough to survive until the brutes took her back to their hideout- Layla shook her head. She didn’t want to think about the possible horrors that awaited her. As long as Lucy was safe, she would endure anything. As long as her sunshine lived to see another day, Layla would give her life for Lucy. 

Layla already knew help was on the way there, if the communication lacrima they had in front of the carriage was any indication. If not, then surely a servant in the cabin would notice the commotion outside and contact someone for help, so Layla knew Lucy would be safe and sound. There were more ways than one that they prepared just in case Lucy was kidnapped, so finding her wouldn’t be an issue. What was an issue was if she could survive out in the cold. Layla just had to pray to whatever deity existed in their world that it would protect her daughter from nature until she was found and brought to safety. 

Layla turned around and faced the two Vulkans, who were approaching her with curiosity.  She pulled the Capricorn key from her pouch, summoned the spirit, and engaged the Vulkans in a fight.

Lucy was too scared to run away, and she stared wide-eyed at her mother. 

“Lucy! RUN!”

Coming out of her daze, she turned and ran as fast as her small legs could get her, the fleeting hope of safety being right within her reach.

Unfortunately, the fight was turning for the worst for Layla. The two muscled brutes overwhelmed the spirit and spirit holder. Layla attempted to use a celestial whip that was said to rival Virgo's in magical strength, but she lacked the training to use it properly. Their resistance was futile since Layla wasn’t exactly trained to hold a spirit for long periods of time, and her strength was withering away due to the harsh conditions weakening her. With another mighty blow from the Vulkans, Capricorn disappeared in a  _ puff _ of light. 

With pants and wheezes, Layla fell on one knee, her right arm and stomach bruised beneath her clothes. In a final stand to protect her daughter, she prepared to attack the brutes again. However, one kick to her stomach was all it took to send Layla flying backwards, her limp body hitting the snow.

Lucy looked back and didn’t know what to think. She stared at her mother, who was lying just feet away from her, and then looked up to the two approaching Vulkans. It was all too much for her. So she screamed. Screamed and cried for the loss of her mother, father, and all of her friends to the monsters in front of her.

“MOMMYYY!-“

Suddenly, the earth shook, startling Lucy and the primates. Then, a mighty roar broke through the sounds of the snowfall. And above her, Lucy saw it. A dragon. There it stood, standing protectively above her, as it stared at the two brutes in front of it. With one mighty sweep of its arm, the dragon sent the monsters flying away, harming them but not quite killing them. 

The dragon looked down at the frightened child beneath it.

Layla stared upward at the mythical creature, a soft smile adorning her face. ‘ _ My baby is safe now. Good. I know you can both hear me. Aquarius and Capricorn. Please protect my daughter and stay by her side. I entrust her life in your hands. My contract is now hers. It was wonderful knowing you, and please: keep Lucy safe. _ ’ And with that, Layla’s eyes lost their color.

The dragon moved around the child until its maw was a foot away from her. As gently as it could, the dragon blew warm air to Lucy, causing her to fall backwards and making her sit in the snow. Lucy couldn’t tear her eyes away from the creature. The dragon’s body was mostly white, with some light blue scales scattered in its body. All of the dragon’s scales had a certain glint to it, similar to glass or ice, and the slit of its eyes held a blue tinge to them, similar to its scales. The tail had an orb-shaped part covered in spikes. The creature was majestic, almost godly in its size and might, and to Lucy, it was one of the most incredible things she had seen in her life. But she wished she could have seen it in better circumstances. This wasn’t the story that her mother read every night of the princesses imprisoned in towers, knights with shiny armor, and fearsome dragons who guarded them. These weren’t events that held a happy ending.

This was a nightmare. One that young Lucy wished she could wake up from. Her mother was gone, her father was presumably dead too, and now she was completely alone in the middle of a blizzard with a dragon that could eat her at any second. Was there anything she could do now but cry?

“Come, child. It’s not safe for you to be outside,” the voice startled her, and it took Lucy a moment to realize that it was the dragon that spoke to her. The voice was surprisingly feminine, if not a little deep due to her being a dragon. Lucy wasn’t sure what she could do. Well it was either follow the dragon or become its snack, and Lucy didn’t want to die, so she followed the dragon to a nearby cave. 

The dragon turned around, facing Lucy. “My name is Frostelia. What’s your name, little one?” And that was how they met.

...Fourteen years later, Lucy stared out towards the hills of snow surrounding her from the inside of her nest, a somber look in her face. She didn’t have a day where she didn’t remember those moments before her mother died.

She missed her parents greatly, and she clung to Michelle like a lifeline, just to remember the memories of simpler times in warmer climates. She tried to remember the feel of her mother’s loving touch, her father’s smiles and the family hugs the three shared. She tried to remember the excitement she felt every time her mother read her the Sorcerer Weekly magazine, where the famous Fairy Tail guild made their prominent appearances as the top guild of Fiore. She tried to remember the dreams of one day joining the guild that she read about so often, and to maybe meet the powerful wizards that made the guild who it was back then. Ever since that day when she lost everything, the Ice Dragon Frostelia and she lived together in the dragon’s territory, and Frostelia trained her in the arts of Ice Dragon Slayer magic and Celestial Magic. Of course, she also had Capricorn, who helped her meditate and focus on the magic energy she possessed, but she liked using her Dragon Slayer magic more. Celestial magic still brought a numb aching in her heart, as the daily reminder that she was an orphan with only a Dragon as a mother figure to her. 

Of course, living an isolated life away from most people was lonely. It didn’t help the snowy terrain she called home was so gloomy at times. Lucy was accustomed to the cold by now, as the Ice Dragon lacrima she had inside of her plus the training made her body immune to the cold. Even so, living in a mountainside that was covered in snow all year wasn’t especially fun. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen another human being since she was young, though. From visits to the old family cabin, to assassination attempts, and saving men and women from Vulkans, Lucy definitely saw people often, but she tended to stay hidden from view, or disappear before someone woke up once the Vulkan inside of them was defeated. 

Lucy couldn’t hold back a scowl. Vulkans. She hated them with a burning passion (ironically, since she was more of a cold person), and she always looked around the Mt. Hakobe territory to look for the disgusting monkey creatures so she could beat them senseless. Saving people from them was just a bonus, or so she liked to think. She wasn’t the same warm, loving girl she used to be. She was colder now, both physically and emotionally. Lucy’s body had less body heat than what was considered normal (or so Frostelia told her, anyway). She also lost the touch of warmth and love her heart used to possess long ago. She could only show that side of her to those she cared about as deeply as she cared for her deceased parents and Frostelia. Frostelia was the same way, and being the only parental figure Lucy possessed, Lucy picked up many of the traits and habits Frostelia had. As far as Lucy knew, Frostelia was the same way she was now ever since they met. Frostelia was just as elegant and emotionless as Lucy was now, if not more so. Or she tried to be anyway. There were some moments where the love she had for Lucy as the daughter she never had pushed through her façade. Lucy cherished those moments dearly.

Lucy stood up and walked back to the inside of her mother’s nest. Today was a special day, if not a sad day for her. Today, she would finally leave the nest to explore the world on her own. She was a little excited, to be frank, but she was also not looking forward to having to leave her foster mother as well as her parent’s graves behind. Frostelia helped Lucy bury her mother’s body, since her father’s was never found by either of them, no matter how much time Frostelia took to look for him. So she used an ice block as a headstone and buried her mother near the nest so she could visit the grave. Today would be the last day she would be able to visit them for a while, so she wanted to use that time as best she could. 

Lucy walked towards the sleeping form of her mother. Frostelia was a beautiful white dragon. She was bipedal, since she used her wings as legs to walk on, unlike most dragons. Her scales were rough, and covered with a light coat of the blue ice that makes its home in Mt. Hakobe. Her eyes were the color of the sky, and her ‘face’ was kind and friendly (for a dragon, anyway). Her talons and claws were dark gray, and her horns were twisted similarly to a goat, though hers were black instead of gray. 

Lucy approached Frostelia and hugged her snout, nuzzling the scales. “Good morning,” The dragon stirred, groggily opening her eyes.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay, but did you have to wake me up so early?” Lucy smiled. That was one of the things both of them shared. They were not morning dragons. At all. Still, it was a necessary evil today, due to the special occasion. 

“I understand. I wanted to wake you up so I could tell you that I’m going to make a final visit to my parents’ graves before we can say goodbye.” Frostelia nodded in understanding. 

“Well Lucy, I’ll get your things ready since I want to give you something before you go.” Lucy tilted her head in confusion. What could she give her? She was more than alright with what she had. She was grateful for her foster mother for everything she had done to support her and raise her as well as she could. 

“O-okay, sounds good! I’ll be back.”

Lucy left the nest and made her way to the left right against the mountainside for a minute, until she saw a small patch of trees that used to be connected to the forest before Frostelia took some down so she could cross to the nest. She entered the tiny forest, until she came across the small opening between the trees, where an ice headstone laid. The carving was rough, since they didn’t have much to carve the words back then, but they were legible. She laid her hand on the top of the headstone, and smiled, tears forming in her eyes. She stared at the reflection the ice had, allowing her to see herself. She had changed since she was young. Her hair was a much lighter blonde, even some hairs being completely white. Frostelia told her that using her magic caused it, and eventually, her hair would be fully white as snow. Her face was paler, making her chocolate colored eyes shine a little brighter. She looked just like her mother in a lot of ways, but the changes her body had due to her magic made the difference to differentiate between her and her deceased mother.

“H-hey Mom, Dad. I’m just getting ready to finally leave the nest and see the world again. I-I’ll be honest... I’ll miss this place. I’ll miss being able to visit you every day and running in the snow. I’ll miss having snow for dinner every Sunday for fun,” the memory of how that came about made her grin a little wider, “And training with Frostelia. I-I’ll miss the quiet mornings and blizzard nights, and the cuddles Frostie and I would have when the morning was especially cold back when I didn’t have my Ice Lacrima, and how we kept the cuddles since.

“I’ll miss the old cabin, and the moments represented in drawings I still have in my luggage of us back when I was young, and everything else that I have experienced in this place. But I won’t forget all this.” her tears started to run down her pale face, and she laughed a little. “I won’t forget you, and what you did to save me from the… Vulkans,” a low growl came out of her throat. “And I will always be grateful for everything you taught me and gave me while you were still with me. I won’t ever forget you. You both will always have that certain spot in my heart,” Lucy kneeled and laid a hand on the soil, relishing the way her fingers felt between the snow, as if it was a warm embrace. “Thank you, mom and dad. I-I’ll always love you.” Lucy stood, glancing one last time to the grave, before walking back home. She wiped her tears away as she made her way back to the nest.

Frostelia approached her as Lucy walked in the nest, setting down her luggage gently in the stone floor. “I have the gifts with me, but you’ll need to close your eyes and extend your arms okay?” Lucy nodded.  _ When did the gift become gifts?  _ Lucy thought. But she closed her eyes and laid her arms out obediently. She felt a weight settle down in her arms and she slowly opened her eyes. What she saw made her gasp. There were two things. The first was a necklace, made of small white and blue scales, and hanging from the necklace was a fang the size of her palm. The second, however, was what surprised her more. It was a jacket, similar to what she would usually wear. It was all made of white scales, and the inside was of wool, except for the zipper in the middle that was attached to the wool and scales. It was simple. No patterns or anything, just the familiar scales she came to know and love from her foster mom. She smiled widely, hugging the gifts to her chest and mouthing a thank you to Frostelia. She took off her regular jacket carefully, setting it down on Frostelia’s snout. The dragon huffed playfully, making the jacket fall on the floor, and Lucy giggled. She put on the necklace first, wrapping her right hand around the fang, then putting on the jacket. It was surprisingly comfortable, for being made by a dragon for a human. She picked up the jacket from the floor and hugged the dragon in front of her.

“Thank you…” Lucy muttered, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes again. Frostelia’s eyes softened, relishing the hug her daughter was giving her. “I thought I could give you something you could wear to remember me if you needed it, just in case you needed any support while I’m not around. Plus, giving a gift to my daughter will always be something I want to do,” both females smiled at one another. 

Lucy stepped away from Frostelia, and sighed. She didn’t want to go… Even if exploring the world was something both exciting and terrifying, Lucy wasn’t looking forward to not seeing her mother again. The pair walked outside until the edge of Frostelia’s territory was right in front of them. She tried not to look around too much, to avoid having bad memories crawling back up to her mind. Lucy turned to face the dragon.

“Well this is it, huh?” Frostelia nodded. 

“Indeed it is. I hope I was a good mother to you, Lucy. You don’t know how amazing it was raising you, even if we didn’t meet in the best circumstances.” Lucy nodded as well, as the tears freely flowed down her face.

“You were the best mother I could have asked for… Frostie~.” Lucy laughed at the teasing nickname, while Frostelia pouted lightly even when her eyes were watering too. “Thank you for everything, Lucy. I couldn’t be more proud of you, my daughter. Now show the world how great the Ice Queen truly is!” They both laughed, and with that, Lucy walked beyond her old territory, to a new world.

Minutes later, she was at the edge between the snow and grass, and Lucy remembered one thing she thought many years ago as she looked back at Mt. Hakobe:

_ ‘In front of her very eyes, was a winter wonderland…’ _

It was indeed a winter wonderland. A dangerous place, but beautiful all the same. And as she walked the path that led to a new world of possibilities, Lucy missed the pairs of black eyes staring at her from behind a snow pile.

<~ _ Weeks later…~> _

Lucy was tired of walking. She had spent most of her journey of self exploration traveling with her own two feet. At first, she tried to board a carriage to travel to the nearest town. And once it started moving, she realized her mistake.

Damn motion sickness.

_ ‘Talk about starting on the wrong foot, _ ’ Lucy thought. Ever since then, she refused to ever use a form of transportation ever again. Even if her legs ached, she would rather feel that then the torture of being inside a vehicle. She was lucky traveling to Hargeon was relatively easy. She was glad she didn’t have to use a train. Lucy shuttered at the thought.

So, now that she was finally seeing the outside world, she felt her young self spring forward. There were new things everywhere! New scents, new foods, new people and things to look at! It was great- Lucy sniffed once, then twice. There was a particular scent. It smelled of firewood and ash, but it was somehow pleasant. The thing that concerned her though, was how the scent had an undertone to it that only Frostelia had. Which meant that this was a Fire Dragon Slayer. And from how strong the scent was, they should be…

“Yo!”

Right behind her.

Lucy turned around slowly, and looked at the Fire Slayer in front of her. He had pink hair, onyx eyes and a toothy grin so big his eyes were a little closed. He wore a white, scaly scarf around his neck (not unlike her jacket) which confirmed her suspicions. Speaking of.

“It’s nice to meet you! I’m Natsu. You have a cool jacket! Where did you get it?” the man in front of her said. He didn’t look to be a lot older than her, give or take one year difference from her age.  _ He is quite handso- Wait, where did that come from?!  _ She thought, a blush appearing in her cheeks.

“Um…” Lucy said. “My mother gave it to me as a parting gift.” She finished.

“Wait, you lived in Mt. Hakobe?!” Natsu asked. Lucy’s eyes widened. How did he know?! Was he a stalker? Maybe someone sent him to kill her? Since his element was fire, it would be efficient against her Ice Magic.  _ Better keep my guard up. _

“How did you know?”

“Oh, well me and Happy finished a job, and we saw you walking down that old path.”  _ Okay, not a stalker, maybe. I’ll still have to keep quiet though. And who is Happy?  _ Lucy nodded, looking around for anyone else who could be this supposed ‘Happy’.

“So.. who’s Happy?”

“Oh, he’s my best friend! He went to buy some fish-“ and with that, Lucy and Natsu engaged in a friendly conversation. Well mostly friendly, anyway. Lucy was still on edge about Natsu, but after multiple failed attempts at taking her life, Lucy learned not to trust people right away. A valuable lesson now more than ever, now that she was in the outside world.

“So what magic do you use? I’m a Fire Dragon Slayer.” Natsu asked her. Lucy, still on edge, decided to go the less risky route.

“Well I’m a celestial spirit! I currently hold five keys of the Zodiac and I just bought a silver key.” Lucy took the pouch on her right hip and opened it to show him the keys.

“That’s awesome! What guild are you a part of?” 

That was a little difficult to answer. Should she be honest and say she wasn’t a part of a guild and risk being found out? Or lie and say a random guild name and hope for the best? To Lucy, only one of them seemed like the better option.

“Well… I’m not really part of any guild, and I don’t know which one I could join.” Okay. That was a half-lie. She wanted to join Fairy Tail. Luckily for her, she met the one who could help her out.

“You should join Fairy Tail! We don’t have a celestial wizard in our guild so you could join us!” 

“I’d love to! Um, since I don’t exactly have a place to stay at, maybe we could go to your guild now!”

“Oh yeah! Good idea. I’m all fired up now!”

“Aye sir!”

And with that, Lucy headed towards a new adventure, and hopefully, a fun life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was chapter one! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and make sure to leave a kudo if you did! I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for reading, and see you next time! 
> 
> -Random404


	2. Rescue and Bad Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy finally gets to join Fairy Tail, and she is intrigued about the new world she has just begun to explore, but as the group learns that a friend has gone missing, Lucy and the others must embark on a journey that brings back more than a few bad memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Random here with chapter two of The Ice Queen! Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone for the support for the story so far! I am so happy that we got 9 Kudos and more than 150 hits on the first chapter of the story, so I would like to personally thank everyone who supported the story for being there as this is starting to begin! This chapter will be very heavy on Lucy's backstory, though many details will be left out, so make sure to follow the story to see how it goes next! Now, I'd like to reply to the three reviews we got for this time:
> 
> {FFN} Amanny: Thanks a lot :D And yeah I am definitely looking forward to implementing new ways for Lucy to use her dragon slayer and celestial magic together in cool ways!
> 
> {FFN} PhantomGirl21: Thanks so much! And I hope this update satisfies your wait!
> 
> {AO3} AshyDoki: Omg thanks for being the first reviewer I got :DDD your review really made me feel good about this story so thanks! And I can't reveal much yet, but I definitely have plans for both Nalu (*nudge nudge* *wink wink*), and how she will reveal her magic, so look forward to that!
> 
> And that concludes this updates' RRs! (Review Replies) And now it's time for the big event! Here I present you chapter two! One last thing! Warning: this chapter will have mentions of PTSD flashbacks, just so you know.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, or any of its characters or locations.

Lucy could say she was very excited to join Fairy Tail. It had been a single day since she joined Natsu’s group, and it had been fun! She learned a lot of things about the guild and some of its members from the trip towards the Fairy Tail guild hall, and she was looking forward to meeting everyone already! As she approached the guild hall, Lucy looked in awe at the structure. A traditional-style three story building greeted her eyes, the Fairy Tail flag looking brand new, and the sight made her excited. This was all new to her! What would a guild be like? Why would someone need to join a guild? And what was this ‘Jewel’ she kept hearing about on the way here about?

She and her companions opened the guild doors, and Lucy was greeted with a friendly environment. Groups of people sat around different picnic styled tables (she read about them in one of her books back at the nest), all chatting and creating an environment that felt like home. She couldn’t be happier. Based on how Natsu regularly acted (always picking fights with guys who flirted with her or that fake Salamander she encountered while talking to Natsu), she was expecting the guild hall to be a mess, full of people brawling with one another. Lucy was glad it didn’t turn out that way. Though, she would later realize that she spoke too soon.

She didn’t even make it a couple of steps into the guild hall before the commotion started.

“So Natsu, I heard you went all out on Hargeo-” Someone started before receiving a kick in the face.

“I had to take care of a fake Salamander!”

“What was that for? I just asked because of a rumor I heard.”

“Oh, so it was just a rumor?!”

“You wanna fight?!”

“Let’s go!”

And so the commotion began. As the two entered into a fight, Happy attempted to ease the situation, to no avail (Happy instead flew against a wall, and no it was not intentional). And the brawl continued, as Lucy made her way around the lumps of people towards the guild bar. There, she spotted a dark haired… almost fully naked man. _A fellow ice mage. I can feel it. Great, so now I have to share the same type of magic with that pervert?!_ Lucy thought annoyingly. _Well, I just hope he doesn’t take his unde- a-and there it goes. Don’t look Lucy, don’t look!_

And so the battle continued. Lucy saw an orange haired guy with two ladies on his sides, a huge guy who was screaming “MAN!!”, and a woman who was drinking a bit too much alcohol in Lucy’s opinion. But overall, the experience was thrilling. She couldn’t help but agree with what the bartender said to her when Lucy asked if they should stop them once she saw they were starting to get out of hand.

_“This happens all the time, so I just leave them be. Plus I think it’s kinda fun, doncha think?”_

And it really was. It was amusing to see the chaos in front of her eyes, even if she didn’t join the fight herself. This was a strange occurrence, but Lucy couldn’t think of a better way to be greeted to the world of magic guilds.

<~ _An hour later…_ ~>

“Has anyone seen my dad?” Romeo asked Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. They were currently trying to select a job that would be both easy enough to complete, and it paid enough for Lucy to be able to pay her rent.

“You say Macao hasn’t come back?” Natsu asked Romeo, who nodded.

“Y-You don’t think he left, did he? He left for a job on Mt. Hakobe and he hasn’t come home. He should be back by now! And no one wants to go check on him. I’m worried, Natsu,” Lucy’s blood ran cold. She was hoping for the best, but if her gut was right, then he must have ran into trouble on the way there.

“We’ll go look for him. Do you know what he was supposed to get?” Romeo nodded. “Something about rare ice,” Lucy gasped. “I know! There’s a very rare ice that is found in caves in the mountains that doesn’t melt even by the strongest fires and is very durable. Apparently, it’s a very valuable material that shops use for many things!” ‘ _And it’s also what I use in my Dragon magic’_ she inwardly added.

“Alright! So you can point us to where we can find him, right Lucy?” Natsu asked excitedly. Lucy nodded, his good mood rubbing on her.

“At least Gray isn’t here, then we can walk there instead of riding in the magic car,” the dragon slayers shivered at the thought.

“Alright! We will go find your dad, Romeo. You can count on us! Let’s go Happy. Lucy, lead the way!”

The group made their way to the entrance of the guild hall, all while ignoring the pitying glances and talking made behind their backs.

“So, do you think your friend is alright?” Lucy asked, concerned.

“I think so,” Natsu responded. 

“From what I’ve heard, monsters in that whole area seem to have disappeared or something. Apparently Vulkans there are so rare that travellers barely encounter them anymore,” Happy continued, and both the Exceed and the Fire Dragon Slayer missed the flinch from their blond haired companion.

And so, the trio travelled towards Mt. Hakobe once again to try and find the mission guild member and the father of Romeo: Macao. During this trip, Lucy couldn’t help but be worried about what happened to their comrade. After all, the vicious creatures that lived in the area could be quite meddlesome to someone without experience fighting them. Lucy, of course, was more than experienced to take one down quickly if the need arose, but she hoped to never see one of those Vulkans ever again.

Unfortunately, the trip did require them to go by cart. This, of course, led to both slayers getting motion sickness, and they were barely able to move without the risk of puking.

After a day or so, the trio finally found their way towards the entrance of the cave. Lucy led the way once inside as memories crawled back into her mind. This was the same cave that she visited thirteen years ago:

_“Now, you have to go in there, and grab a piece of the walls. Once you do that, you’ll have to eat it. Just make sure not to wander too far into it, since it’s hard to find the way out,” Lucy nodded. She understood what she had to do, but the cave was so scary! She didn’t want to go in there!_

_“Now, I know you’re scared, but you have to do this. The way your magic works is that if you consume ice that is more durable and better quality, your magic will instead use and create the type of ice you ingested instead of the normal ice you currently make, so this is necessary. You can do this, Lucy.”_

_Lucy hesitantly made her way inside the cave and walked forward for a minute or so before kneeling beside a pillar of the rare ice. She bit into the pillar, taking out a small chunk, and she started eating it. As she finished munching on the ice, a voice startled her._

_“Oh, look! A small lady!” A voice said greedily. Lucy turned around quickly, only to stare at the eyes of a brute. A Vulkan. Lucy cowered in fear as the creature slowly approached her. As it got close, she screamed, accidentally Roaring at it, making the Vulkan fly backwards and hit the wall and become unconscious. Lucy ran back towards the entrance, tears running down her eyes, and hugged Frostelia’s snout tightly as she sobbed into her scales._

_Needless to say, Lucy didn’t get much sleep that night._

Lucy hoped that she wouldn’t encounter a creature like that again. Unfortunately for her, fate was not on her side. 

“Hey, Ape! Where’s Macao?” Natsu asked impatiently. Lucy started to panic, her breathing uneven and her anger and anxiety rising. _‘Calm down, everything will be okay… Control your emotions. Remember what Frostelia taught you.’_

Natsu ran towards the creature… only to trip and slide on the ice below him. Natsu stood, and Lucy ran towards him and cowered behind Natsu’s back. She was on the brink of crying again, all because of repressed grief and emotion she still held on her heart. 

_Fourteen year old Lucy Frostilia tiredly stood from the ground, finishing her daily training. Frostelia had told her earlier that she was ready to go off and fight monsters on her own._ _Frostelia also mentioned how she was finally ready to leave the nest on her own, but Lucy didn’t focus on that. No, her mind was twisting down a spiral of its own. One created by the trauma she had, and she never had the people to help her through it._

_‘_ Was that really true?’ _Lucy thought. She looked at her shaking hands, tears forming in her eyes from pure emotion as the seeds of hatred were planted into her mind. She started using her magic, and rough gauntlet-like shapes made of ice started covering her arms. ‘_ I can finally defend myself… I don’t have to cower in fear anymore… I can finally fight back against them… I’ll finally be free of the nightmares… And all of those ugly bastards would pay for what they did to me and my parents. Now that I have power, they would all pay’ _Lucy unconsciously growled as her grief and sorrow overwhelmed her mind. While the fear for the creatures that put a scar in her mind still stood tall, a dark emotion overtook her fear. This was when Lucy Frostilia stepped down, and the Ice Queen rose to take control._

Lucy shook her head, trying to pry the memory away while wiping her tears away. Finally, she focused on what Natsu was saying.

“He’s a human man, so where is he?”

“Man?” the brute asked.

“Yeah, now where is he?”

The Vulkan shrugged and grabbed Natsu by the arm, turning around and throwing him across the room. Natsu crashed against a pillar, making it break with the impact.

“NATSUUU!” Lucy screamed. She ran towards Natsu, only to find him bleeding from his head and his eyes spinning. She felt like a four year old again, just watching her loved ones get hurt while she stood on the sidelines. She wrapped Natsu’s head and wound in a bandage, trying very carefully as to not hurt him.

The Vulkan walked towards Lucy while dancing in celebration. “We no like man, we like woman!” the Vulkan chanted happily. Lucy stared at Natsu and then looked back at the Vulkan. All she saw was red. Lucy stood, her hands in fists and her arms shaking. Her mind flashed through memories of when she cowered in fear due to the trauma of seeing her mother pass away.

_“It will be alright, sweetheart. Mommy will protect you while you get to safety.”_

_“Layla, take Lucy and run away from here. I’ll give you time to get away from here, just run!”_

_“Mommy, I’m scared.”_

_“...was a winter wonderland…”_

_“Come, child. It’s not safe for you-”_

_“Lucy! RUN!”_

_“MOMMYYY!-“_

“You hurt my friend…” Lucy whispered, her body shaking and her blood boiling in her veins, as anger… no. _Hatred_ fueled her mind. The brute looked at her, confused, and returned to chanting his celebration.

“And you will PAY FOR THAT!” Lucy screamed at him and kicked the brute in the jaw, knocking it back. Before it could recover, Lucy grabbed his right arm with her own, her nails digging into his skin. She spun him back and upwards, and with a war cry she slammed him face-first into the ground, knocking him unconscious.

Lucy felt her tears forming as she walked backwards. She tripped on a rock and fell on her backside, and she curled up in a ball, crying. Natsu woke up to the sound of sobs, and he quickly rose to his feet.

“Lucy! Did that monkey hurt you? Oh, he’s down,” he sighed in relief. ‘ _At least that was taken care of’_. “Luce? What’s wro-” Natsu tried to ask but he was interrupted.

“I’m fine, Natsu. C-can we not talk about this? Please…” Natsu couldn’t help but nod and accept it. Her worried expression and puffy eyes told him enough. Whatever happened, he hoped that she would come to him about it eventually.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Happy watched the whole thing go down. He was preparing to try and help them by distracting the ape, but Lucy already took care of that. 

A groan put them all out of their thoughts. The trio looked towards the noise, only to find their fallen guildmate, Macao, in the same place that the Vulkan once was.

“Macao! Are you alright?” _Of course he isn’t alright, Natsu!_ Lucy thought exhaustedly.

“Yeah yeah I’m fine. Just have a killer headache and my arm hurts a lot. Let’s go home, shall we?” the rest of the group nodded, as Happy took Natsu’s side. Lucy helped Macao stand up, and her -as well as Natsu- helped their comrade walk back home. That was, until they found a carriage willing to bring them back to Magnolia -which the pair of dragon slayers reluctantly agreed on using, to their chagrin-. 

<~ _Later…_ ~>

As the sun started setting, the group of four made their way through the main road leading to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Before they were able to make it there on time, however, a small boy came running towards the group.

“Dad!” Romeo came running quickly, and Macao opened his arms to receive his crying son. “I’m glad you’re okay, dad. I was so worried! You were gone for a whole week and-” Lucy couldn’t help but gush a little at the tender moment. Happy family reunions were always something to be smiling about. _‘Well, I better enjoy these since I don’t have any family left. Besides Fairy Tail, obviously.’_ She thought bitterly. She was completely oblivious of her future and what it would bring.

“Hey Natsu! We never got to tell you, but we signed up for a job on some mansion. It was about destroying a book or something. Wanna go for it tomorrow?” Happy exclaimed… well… happily.

“Yeah, sure! I’m all fired up now!” Natsu exclaimed, causing his fellow teammates to butt in on the excitement. And so, the trio made their way back to Lucy’s apartment to prepare for their next job. 

And an hour later, things were back to normal (or the way Lucy thought of it as normal) which was: yet another fight. _Well, at least it’s entertaining._

“Alright! Bring it on Ice Brain,” Lucy sighed. Of course Natsu was going to start the fight. Lucy made her way around the largening fight and sat on a stool in the bar.

“Hey, Mira! How are you?”

“I’m great, thank you! Would you like anything?”

“A strawberry shake sounds nice right about now, honestly.”

“Did the rescue go well?”

“Yeah, just had some bad memories rise up again. Well, thank you for the shake Mira-” Suddenly, a stool flew towards the pair, and the two shied away from it. Lucy stood from the floor to go back to drink her shake, only to find it on the floor, with the glass broken. _‘That’s it… They’ve done it now!’_

Lucy looked towards the fight, and found Gray and Natsu staring at her with fearful eyes. She growled and pulled out her whip.

“You ruined my strawberry shake! You two are DEAD MEAT,” And so Lucy went against Gray and Natsu, and single handedly taught the pair not to mess with Lucy’s food.

By the end of it, Lucy had a smug look on her face, Gray and Natsu had a lot of bumps in their heads, and the guild hall was a mess. But it was all worth it in the end.

<~O~>

“Hey Natsu, I know Lucy said not to talk about it, but I saw what happened back at the cave!” Happy said.

“Oh yeah? Well, what did happen?”

“After the Vulkan threw you, she ran towards you and wrapped your head with bandages. That’s what you know. But what you don’t is that she stared at the Vulkan with the coldest look I’ve seen her give. She was really scaaaaaary,” Happy shivered in fear. “She looked just like Erza when she gets serious during missions. And she took the Vulkan down on her own. Don’t you think that’s a little fishy?”

“Now that you mention it, yeah it is. Something about her past must be connected to Vulkans. That would make sense since she didn’t act that way when we fought other people or monsters on the way to the guild hall. Hmm… It’s weird. But ehh, she’ll be alright.”

“Wow Natsu, I didn’t expect you to be able to think all that… or think at all, really?”

“Oh come on! Cut me some slack, will ya?”

Unbeknownst to them, Lucy was thinking of the exact same thing back at her apartment home’s bathtub. _‘I can’t believe I let my emotions get the better of me again. Ugh. I couldn’t control myself in front of them. Well, at least Natsu didn’t see it… That would have been very troublesome. And I can be at peace here.’_ Lucy sighed happily and sank deeper into the ice cold waters. For her, waters of such low temperature didn’t affect her at all. The only reason she never went to a nearby river or lake to soak like this was because of the nagging anxiety in the back of her mind ever since she was first attacked. The day she got Aries and Leo’s keys. But now wasn’t the time to gloom. Now was the time to enjoy a simple bath and go to bed.

One reason why she never used water that wasn’t as cold as possible was because it was what she was used to. Any warmer than that and it would be off for her. If she was honest with herself, Lucy never really tried warm baths before. She wondered what it would be like to try one, but she wasn’t about to let out all the water and find out today. She was just going to… enjoy her time here while it lasted…

Minutes later, she fell deep into sleep. And that was how Lucy’s first day at the Fairy Tail guild ended, with many more adventures and more fights to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was chapter two! Of course, like I said we get to explore a little of how Lucy has felt over the years, though in a lot of ways we have only scratched the surface, as well as the hidden abilities and strength that she holds. And before you ask: yes, Lucy is a bit OOC at times, and that has a reason. Lucy from this world had a lot worse of a time during her life than canon Lucy. She lost her parents at at a young age, she lived a relatively isolated life with no way to release her bottled up emotions, and other things happened to her during that time. Of course I am not an expert in PTSD and other things like that, but from what she has lived through, I'd say it's likely that it affected her in ways that would make anyone change from their selves before the event happened. So yeah, that was chapter two! Let me know what you think in the comments, and see you all next time!
> 
> -Random404


	3. The Start of a New Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lucy reflects on her time at Fairy Tail, she is forced to hide her past from her new friends to survive. While doing so, she is confronted with truths that hurt more than one heart as Team Natsu's adventures begin! In the background, a dark guild begins to plot something sinister...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Long time no see, huh? I haven't been writing for a while since I wanted to take a break from it all and well I feel much better now! I'm finally ready to come back and hopefully update more often! I also made some small changes to chapter 1 because Lucy wasn't exactly acting how I wanted her to, and thank you for pointing that out in the comments. If there is any other changes that you think would be good in these chapters, then make sure to send a review :). Though keep in mind that Lucy has been in isolation for most of her life so she isn't accustomed to the outside world and its workings. Anyway! It's that time once again! Time for Review Replies. We have two this time, so I will quickly reply to them before we get into the chapter:
> 
> {FFN} Ikrani: Thanks a lot for pointing it out! I reread the chapter and it made me cringe tbh lol. I meant to have her act like that to differentiate between her foster mother (Frostelia) and her biological parents, though it seemed to have backfired! I have made some changes which should fix that, though if there is still anything of the sort then pls point it out since I tend to miss that sort of thing. But thanks a lot! I normally try to have a new paragraph when a new speaker joins, though I sometimes do something like separating sentences from the same speaker to add Lucy's thoughts (as you will see in this chapter). Though hopefully the formatting is a little better! I'm still relatively new to writing so I'm still learning to do stuff correctly. But I'm glad you dig the fic and I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint! I tried my hand on some comedy here and there so hopefully it works lol. I'm really rusty since I haven't written in a while but I hope this story lives up to its expectations. Anyways thanks :)
> 
> {FFN} Izzy088136: Hallo! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far, though I have to say I don't know where you got that from. Maybe I wrote that down somewhere, but if I did I will take it down. I will be updating this story in both FFN and AO3, though depending on the fandom I'm uploading to, one website will have the update first (by minutes of each other). But yeah both sites will be updated so don't worry! :D
> 
> And that's it for Review Replies! I hope that you all enjoy this chapter! And also THANKS SO MUCHHHHH FOR THE SUPPORT. I can't believe we are already at 40 follows and 27 favorites in FFN and it's only on chapter 2! I'm really happy all of you are enjoying the story and I hope that this story will continue to grow :D
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, nor do I know if fairies have tails.

It has been a month since she joined Fairy Tail. When she first came around, she was welcomed with open arms and given her guild mark, which for her was a light blue mark on her left hand. After that, a fight broke out and chaos ensued for the day. Of course, the ones that started a fight were Natsu and Gray, and with time, Lucy learned that these fights were normal for them. Frankly, she liked them! Although the dragon slayer and ice maker learned not to mess with Lucy’s ice cream shakes. During the first fight, they accidentally threw a stool towards her and made her spill her shake. 

The look she gave them was as cold and terrifying as it could get. They hadn’t been so scared since the last time Erza was around. And so Lucy joined the brawl. She had to say, fighting was kind of fun! Plus, revenge for her shake was always welcome.

And from there, friendship bloomed between Lucy and many of the guild members. There was Levy, who shared many books with her. They spent hours reading about tomes, spells, and old legends. There was the aforementioned Erza, who agreed to train her in the art of hand-to-hand combat and introduced her to strawberry cake (which was destroyed during one of the daily fights in the guild and caused the two females to reign down hell on the troublemakers). There was Natsu, with his carefree, ‘fired up’ attitude that didn’t fail to bring a smile on her face. There was Gray, who was like an older brother to her because of his more mature look on things compared to Natsu. Plus he used Ice magic, so he had a familiarity that brought her back home. And there was Happy, with his witty teasing, bright smiles and expressive personality that always made life fun. 

Being in the guild was great and all, but the true joy was doing jobs (plus a necessity due to rent). Fighting criminals and dark guilds, helping villages, and escorting wealthy businessmen were some of the things Lucy had to do to gain Jewels and pay her rent. Her apartment was pretty bare so far. Besides the basic necessities, she only had a writing desk for writing letters to her mother. Since she was still saving money to buy more furniture, Lucy wasn’t able to make the apartment look homier. Being isolated for so many years without any money was not very helpful for this cause. Nevertheless, Lucy enjoyed doing jobs and helping people as much as anyone. It was also what she was doing right now. Lucy was looking at the job board on the guild hall, and it seemed it was full today. It seemed that this time of year was very busy for Fairy Tail, and that excited her! But there was one that caught her eye. She walked towards the job hanging low in the middle of the board and picked it up. Her face drained of color.

_Request to Kill the Ice Queen_

_Location: Mt. Hakobe. There is a cabin that is owned by the Heartfilia family that is currently inhabited by a female Ice mage. We request that you take her out so the cabin can be retaken. Legends say she has single handedly put the Vulkan species into the brink of extinction, and all who were sent to kill her never returned. Take this job at your own risk._

_Payment: 500,000J_

So they were requesting to have her killed so they could have the cabin back? She had to hide this job. She liked living, thank you very much. Plus she kind of didn’t live there anymore, so it was useless for them to request them to kill he- _Wait. Is this free money? I mean I’m not there anymore, so I could basically get this job, say ‘she’s gone’ with some proof, and be on my way. Hmm…_ She didn’t exactly disagree with her current predicament, but the things the job said about her unsettled her. Sure, she **did** hunt down Vulkans whenever she could when she was younger, and sure she did fight the people sent to take her down, but it wasn’t like she killed anyone… well except for one person. 

She never meant to take her life, really. She just overestimated the amount of magic power her opponent had, so she didn’t hold back. She never realized she was desperate for money, or that she was pushing herself to the limit. Until her opponent passed away. She never got her name, but she did get the Zodiac keys she had. Two, to be exact. Aries and Leo. Making the contract with Aries was difficult, if Lucy was honest. For a whole week, every time Lucy tried to create a contract, Aries became too frightened and disappeared until Lucy reassured her she wasn’t going to harm her and that she never meant to kill her old master. That helped a bit in getting Aries to come out of her shell, but the way she acted told Lucy that Aries’ old mistress was not the best Celestial Wizard out there. So Lucy made it her goal to help Aries past her previous abusive experiences, and she succeeded in a lot of ways. Of course, Aries is still shy, but it wasn’t because of the fears of being abused anymore. Lucy made sure that Aries felt loved and appreciated and that she was her friend. Leo’s key on the other hand didn’t work at all. She wasn’t sure why, but it just didn’t. No matter how many tries Lucy had, Leo would never come out, so she didn’t have a contract with him. 

In any case, Lucy made her way towards the bar, hoping to convince Mira to hide the job or something.

“Hey, Mira!”

“Hello, Lucy? So, what’s up?”

“Well, I found this job, and I thought it might be too dangerous to have on the board, so I brought it here for you,” Lucy explained.

“Hmm… that is true. Alright, I’ll make sure-” Lucy sighed in relief. “-to put it in the S-Class board then!” And there went that hope. So S-Class wizards had their own board?! Oh, Lucy was so screwed. She imagined Erza mercilessly hunting her down in the snow. The thought made her shiver.

“O-okay Mira. Well, thanks for the help” _Thanks for sealing my death sentence._ Lucy thought in fear. And, as if things couldn’t get any worse.

“Mira! What do you have there?” Oh no. Erza was here.

“Oh, well Lucy pointed out that this job is more of an S-Class level job, so I was going to put it up on the S-Class board. You want to look at it?”

_Please say no. Please say noooo._ “Yeah sure.” _DAMN IT._

As Erza read over the job page, Lucy’s anxiety skyrocketed. _Why am I so worried? I mean yes, this is about my life and all, but Erza wouldn’t kill me… Right?_

“Alright. I’ll take this job” _Well hell._ “I’ll take Team Natsu with me, as well. If we can get this one over with faster, we can do more jobs quicker.” And that meant that Lucy had to go too. Oh great. She had to go to her own funeral. 

“Sounds good,” was all Lucy could say.

<~ _An hour later…_ ~>

“Alright, we’ll need to use the car to travel to the old path we are supposed to follow to get to the cabin,” Natsu and Lucy’s eyes widened. _We have to get inside that death trap?!_ They both thought worryingly.

“Are you sure we can’t just walk there, Erza?” Lucy asked hopefully. She hoped that maybe, just maybe, they would be able to get there on foot and avoid any unnecessary casualties.

“Nope! It’ll be faster if we use the magic car to get there,” Erza stated, unable to realize the sickly faces the dragon slayers were making.

Minutes later, though, was when they saw why Lucy was so against using them. Of course, Gray was wheezing. _Lucky you, Gray. You don’t have to deal with motion sickness. Bastard._ Lucy thought sickly.

Gray wheezed again. “You should see them, Erza. I swear this never gets old!” He continued laughing. Lucy glared at him, and the temptation to freeze him into a popsicle came into her mind.

“Lucy’s sickness is just as bad as Natsu’s?” Erza was quite surprised. She never expected her to have motion sickness like Natsu at all. She would take that into consideration next time.

Once they finally made it to the edge of snow, Lucy and Natsu slid off the vehicle happily, finally free from the suffering of transportation.

Natsu kissed the solid ground. “Finally, I’m not moving anymore!” While Natsu was a bit… extreme, Lucy could share that sentiment. After all, who knew how many hours they both endured in there. Her stomach was very glad to be in solid ground once again.

“I agree,” Lucy said exhaustedly. They both stood and followed after their friends into the snow. 

Minutes later, Lucy already felt homesick. This was the same road that she normally followed when she went on patrols around the territory. And there, on the horizon, laid her old home. The cabin. They approached it carefully, as to not make any noise. Of course, the only one who knew of the truth was Lucy herself, but she had to hide her magic for now, just to make sure she wasn’t in danger from any assassins who wanted to take her down. She honestly wasn’t sure why she was so infamous anyway. Why was that?

“Erza. Do you know why this Ice Queen is hunted down so much?” Lucy whispered.

“I’m not sure, but I’ve heard from rumors that she holds a great treasure that would make anyone fight for it,” Erza replied, as she positioned herself at the door. ‘ _Treasure?’_ With a kick to the door, the group ran inside to find… nothing. _‘What did I expect?’_ Lucy thought. The group explored the cabin fully, only to find nothing, only traces of leftover food that went spoiled. _‘Oops. Seems I forgot to put that away’._

“There’s nothing here. Anyone have any ideas on where to look?” Erza asked.

“Well I saw a sign back on the path, maybe we could see what that’s about?” Oh no. Lucy knew what that meant. Her blood ran cold. If they found that, then they would find out about her too.

“Sure! Alright everyone, let’s go. Where did you see it, Happy?”

“That way!” The blue cat pointed towards the road ahead. And so they walked there, and Lucy couldn’t seem to calm down. What if they found a picture of her in the nest? What if they found the grave of her parents? She couldn’t help being worried that they would think of her differently if they found out who she truly was? She didn’t want to lose them, they were her family now, now that she wasn’t in the nest anymore. She didn’t want to lose any of them.

Lucy was too lost in thought to realize they were approaching the sign.

“Alright, Happy. So this is it?” The exceed nodded. Gray brushed his hand against the snow covered sign, revealing its text:

_Warning:_

_Dragon Territory Ahead_

_Proceed with Caution_

“What the… this must be pretty old if it mentions dragons,” Natsu thought out loud. Most of the group nodded with him. Lucy, of course, kept to herself to not reveal anything.

“I’ll go look into the place. You guys can go see if you find any more clues to where she is hiding,” Gray and Erza nodded. “I’ll go with you, Natsu,” Lucy was going to head there and make sure he didn’t fight Frostelia, because knowing him, he would try to fight a dragon in a heartbeat.

Natsu looked back at Lucy, and noticed she looked… off. _‘Why’s she so anxious? It’s not like dragons are here anymore, so why’s she been like this? I did notice she was a little anxious before, but now it’s worse. What’s going on?’_ The three walked together side by side, but Lucy was still lost in thought. Natsu was a bit confused. While him and Lucy hadn’t been friends for very long (one month is not all that much in the time he’s known everyone else), but he could say that he knew Lucy well. She was still a bit secretive with him, often avoiding the questions of her last name or family, so he tended to avoid those questions to not make her uncomfortable. But now, she was getting as worked up, if not more so, than when he asked about her past. Did this have to do with that, perhaps? He couldn’t be too sure yet.

“You alright there, Lucy?”

“Huh?...Oh, I’m fine. Just lost in thought about the job, that’s all.”

“You sure, Luce?” Lucy flashed him a small smile.

“I’m fine, really. Don’t worry,” _‘Natsu can be so sweet sometimes. Wait… What am I thinking?!’_

Natsu approached the area with caution, completely unaware of the distress and blushing his female companion was currently dealing with. _‘What is wrong with me?! I mean he’s certainly attractive, and I wouldn’t mind asking to be his mat- AHHH stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it...’_ Of course, Lucy was very aware of the whole ‘mating’ thing that dragons (and dragon slayers, by heritage) went through, but she was not about to try and look for a mate when she was just eighteen years old. It was funny, really. How she found out about mates. It was after one of the many training and learning sessions she had with Frostelia:

_“Stand up, child. You need to learn how to do this. It is vital for you to learn these spells for you to defend yourself,” Frostelia was teaching her the second ability of an Ice Dragon Slayer: the Ice Dragon Wing Attack._

_“I know. I’m just really tired. Can we take a break?” Lucy asked pleadingly, shooting puppy eyes towards Frostelia. She huffed, but nodded. As they both laid down, Lucy remembered something she was meaning to ask Frostelia. After all, the six year old’s curiosity was getting the better of her._

_“Hey Frostie… How are dragons born?” The question surprised Frostelia, but she guessed that she was going to have this conversation with her eventually._

_“You know how I feel about that nickname, Lucy… but I’ll explain it to you. Dragons have to find and claim a mate, which is the person they want to settle down with. They claim a mate, and after that, the dragons will later on go through… activities, which result in the creation of an egg that will eventually hatch into a dragon. Dragon Slayers are similar, but unlike dragons, humans don’t hatch from an egg,” Frostelia explained. Lucy tilted her head. What was she talking about?_

_“What activities do you mean, Frostie?” The dragon was too embarrassed to reprimand her adoptive daughter in the nickname. “You’ll understand when you’re older, Lucy. Now, back to training!”_

Of course, she found out what those… activities were (which was something she planned not to remember anytime soon), but that meant that she was too embarrassed to find a mate and do ‘things’. Especially Natsu, who was as clueless to love and mating as a rock. But, she couldn’t help feeling a little down because of it. _‘Alright, stop! You have a mission to do, Lucy. Focus on that!’_ Lucy slapped her cheeks a couple of times to drive away the silly thoughts, and came back to the matter at hand. She was lucky that they had just arrived near her parents’ grave. The pair, plus Happy, ventured into the small patch of woods near a cave, where they found a small headstone.

Natsu kneeled in front of it, Lucy joining his side. “This must be someone related to the Ice Queen, huh? Who are these people anyway?” Lucy nodded, but hesitated to answer. “I… I’m not sure.” They both stood, and made their way beside the mountain, where they spotted a large cave opening.

“Natsu, can you look around and see if you can find anything else? I’ll go inside the cave,” Natsu looked at Lucy, frowning in confusion, but he nodded anyway.

“Come on, Happy,” 

“Aye, sir!” 

As the two made their way past the cave, Lucy sprinted into her old nest, to find… nothing. No Frostelia. Not a single belonging. All that was left was a single piece of paper lying where their ‘bed’ used to be (it was similar to the nest-type creation birds used to live on trees). Lucy approached the note, carefully picking it up. She realized it was from Frostelia, and how a dragon her size was able to write the note was lost to her. She read the words from the beginning, the shock building up as she continued:

_Dear Ice Queen:_

_I’m using this name so others don’t know who you are. I’ve known that people hunted you down for a while, and I want to make sure you aren’t in danger if anyone else reads this. But I’ll make this quick:_

_I’m sorry. I’ve been lying to you about a lot of things for a long time, and I think it is time for you to learn the truth, or as much as I am able to tell you for now. The Frostelia you have known, touched, and lived with is not real. Or not entirely. For the past several years, starting July 7th, X777, my image has been an illusion to you. I was still there to train you and watch you grow up, but my body hasn’t been real. I am currently… elsewhere, where I have been able to gather strength to have a spell put on you. I know you want me to explain why I have lied to you, and why I am casting a spell on you, but I will explain some now._

_I have been casting this spell for the last seven years to protect you from the dangers of your magic. You see, a long time ago -four hundred years to be exact-, there was a war. A war between humankind and dragons. Two sides of dragons fought to see whether or not they were able to live alongside humanity. I, of course, was part of the side that wanted our kind and yours to live in harmony. And, at the time, human magic was incapable of damaging a dragon._

_That was, until we taught your kind Dragon Slayer magic. That was what was needed to turn back the war in our favor. Until one Dragon Slayer betrayed us. His name… was Acnologia. He massacred hundreds of dragons and used his magic so often that he himself turned into a dragon. And this is where I am getting at. All Dragon Slayers are destined to turn into dragons with enough time. That is why I’m casting a spell on you. To prevent you from turning into a Dragon. I hope you understand, and I want you to know that after everything, you are still my precious daughter, and I love you very much._

_Frostelia_

...This was a lot to take in for Lucy. She didn’t really realize she was crying until the tears started to soak the letter. Of course, at that moment, Natsu and Happy entered the cave. Once Natsu saw Lucy, he rushed to her side.

“Are you alright, Lucy? What’s wrong?”

Lucy couldn’t utter a sound, and only handed the letter to him. 

“T-that’s why Igneel left, Natsu,” she told him as he read the letter. The look of shock in his face was one she could understand. After all, this was news to both of them. Their parents left them to protect them from their magic.

“This doesn’t make any sense! Why would he leave if he was strong enough as he was? Why would he need to leave to cast a spell?” Natsu couldn’t believe it. This was why Igneel left. He was both happy and extremely angry. Igneel left him without any notice, and yet this ‘Ice Queen’ gets a whole explanation?! Though he could see why she did. And he was grateful for Igneel doing this to him, but why couldn’t he come back?

“Well, there’s nothing here. It’s best if we go back Erza and Gray so they don’t get worried,” Natsu hesitantly nodded and handed the letter back to her. She stared at it for a second, before stuffing it in her pocket and following after Natsu.

<~ _Later…_ ~>

“Man, that wasn’t worth it at all! We didn’t even get paid! All that trouble for nothing, not even a fight,” Natsu exclaimed tiredly. The group had made it back to the client, who refused to pay them because they ‘didn’t do what was asked of them’. Lucy couldn’t exactly agree with Natsu. While yes, she was still alive and well -thankfully-, and she had to go through two trips on that cursed vehicle, she was still able to learn the truth about many things, and she could say that was a good enough payment for her. Buuuut information didn’t pay rent, so she still had to find a job.

“Oh so all you think about are fights and food, Flame Brain?”

“What are you trying to say, Ice Princess?”

And so there, another fight was started. Ah, it felt good to be home after all the stress she had to go through.

“Hey, Lucy? Look at what I found!” Happy exclaimed, holding a job request. Lucy took the job request in her hands and read it. They needed someone to take down some bandits! And it paid well? She smiled. Oh, Lucy was excited now! She was finally in a good mood, and now she was one step closer to paying her rent. Her day couldn’t be ruined now. Well… that was until a piece of strawberry cake hit the side of her face. She stared blankly at the job before her brows furrowed in anger. Lucy’s furious eyes looked towards the perpetrators, who were looking between the Requip mage and Celestial wizard. Natsu and Gray gulped as the two females nodded towards each other, as they joined the brawl.

Another fight. Another day in Fairy Tail.

<~ _Elsewhere - Same Time_ ~>

“Sir, the scout confirmed our suspicions. It seems that the Ice Queen has left the nest.”

“So… she has made her move, then? Good, it will make things much easier. Send some of the members to find her. And also, search the area for any clues of who she is. The faster we find her, the faster we get _that_.”

As the servant left the room, the ominous figure stared out his window, a wicked smile plastered on his face. “Soon, the power of the Dragon Slayers will be revealed to me. Soon… we will make the world remember the name of Phantom Lord.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Let me know what you think so far on the comments, and if you enjoy then make sure to follow/favorite the story so you don't miss out on new (but kinda slow) updates! Thanks again and have a good one :D

**Author's Note:**

> And that's chapter one! I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you think in the comments! And if anyone is asking: basically the reason why Frostelia never left Lucy was... well, you'll see next chapter! Anyways, like I said remember to Rate&Review, and I hope you enjoyed! :D


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